My Makeshift
by thesunsout.honey
Summary: Draco Malfoy is blinded during a Death Eater raid, but must continue going to school and living his life. Who is he forced to turn to for help?
1. The Raid

Chapter One – The Raid

Draco stood on the outside of the circle of death eaters gathered at Stonehenge in the middle of October. The night was cold and the moon was out. Voldemort paced around in the center of them, telling them of their mission tonight. They were planning a raid on the ministry.

Nice one, Draco thought. It was a big deal, and he was scared. He'd been in raids before, but nothing as big as this. The ministry. He knew he'd be fine and that there was no need to worry. He rubbed his hands together nervously and blew through them in an attempt to warm himself. Blaise, his best friend, patted him on the back.

"So you all know you're all clear on your positions by now?" Voldemort said while circling their ranks, finishing off his speech. "This is a large step towards victory, my faithful servants. Fudge will not be standing after tonight." He looked around at them all and smiled. "You are all as ready as we can be. Unless there are any major blunders, this could be the milestone towards winning the war." He paused for a second. Then he clapped his hands together. "Well, shall we go?" He took his position in the middle of the field, and the Death Eaters all stood up tall around him, waiting for him. He nodded, and there was a swish of their cloaks, a series of loud 'pops', and they were gone, Draco with them.

He landed inside of a corridor, the rest of the ranks landing around him. He knew that they were close to the ministry. All of the Death Eaters were talking to themselves, shifting as they waited for their master to arrive. He finally appeared with a crack, and made a gesture of dusting his hands off.

"Thank Merlin the anti-apparition wards came down well. It was extremely difficult even for me to lift them. I was waiting to make sure you all came through well." That ass, thought Draco, he would have had us all splinched without even telling us.

Voldemort moved to the head of the group and started walking down the hall, and the Death Eaters followed him. Draco found Blaise, standing near the back. "You nervous?" Draco asked quietly.

"No shit. I'm practically shaking. This'll be one of my first raids ever," said Blaise in a tight voice. "I hope I don't mess it up. My father said he's counting on me."

"Ya, same here," said Draco. "My dad is really trusting me to do well. He put a lot of pressure on me."

"Shh… you're making it worse. Just be quiet for a while." Blaise walked looking ahead of him, his back straight and his head tall. Draco saw he really was shaking.

Voldemort led them to the fountain in the center of the Ministry, which had been rebuilt after Potter had demolished it. The Dark Lord raised his wand, a gesture for them all to be quiet.

"You all know what to do now. I trust you all to do your absolute best. Do not fumble, though, I warn. Good luck to all of you." Draco knew what he had to do. The crowd dispersed in their own separate directions, and Draco followed Blaise who was with the other people he'd been assigned to work with. They all left going down a corridor to the left of the receptions desk. They walked for a while, only talking when necessary, until they got to their destination.

They entered the office of a certain Gifford Morshend. Draco and the rest began to turn over desks, file cabinets, and papers, searching for what Voldemort had instructed them. Lord Voldemort had instructed them the job that was by far easiest: destroying evidence. Draco was dumping out Morshend's pen drawer onto the floor when he heard a loud, masculine scream from outside. It was followed by some shouting and another man cursing especially loudly. They all looked up, immediately alert. Knott moved outside and looked for where it was coming from, and it was obvious to them all that the Aurors had shown up.

"Fuck," whispered Knott. "Let's get out of here." Draco and the rest of them got up and out quickly, trying to be as silent as possible. They could hear shouting, curses and jinxes being yelled everywhere around them. They all moved in group down the maze of offices and desks, trying to find the well in the center of the building again.

They snuck as quietly as they could, hoping they could make a surprise attacks. The yelling got louder as they got closer. When they finally navigated their way out, the sight they saw shocked them. There were bodies on the floor and blood running from a few of them. Doshuk, one of the other men with them, gasped loudly. There were Aurors running around shouting curses at the Death Eaters, and dueling couples stood all around the lobby.

Draco saw Lucius battling with what looked to be a thirty year old fit young man, who was quickly exhausting Lucius. Draco, making sure he kept his hood up, stupidly ran out to the middle of the field to give his father aid. He got to his father's side and saw him sweating and panting, but deflecting the curses being thrown at him quickly. He saw Draco.

"What the hell are you doing?" he said, recognizing Draco through the mask, while shooting a shot of blue light from the end of his wand at his opponent. "Get back to the side or get hidden, you idiot!" He deflected a shot of light coming directly towards Draco. "Get out of here!" He ducked another spell, and Draco shot a spell straight at the Aurors wand arm. It missed.

"Draco, go find your own fight if you're going to be out here," Lucius snarled. Draco left him and aimed a Confundus Charm at an open Auror, and made it! The Auror was knocked off his feet and Draco laughed and grinned. He aimed at another Auror, who was already battling a Death Eater. But the Auror whipped around just in time, and shot a stream of orange light right at Draco. It hit him in the face. Draco screamed and fell to the ground, holding his eyes, which got the worst of the blast, and sobbed at the burning pain.

Lucius saw Draco fall, and left his fight, throwing up a temporary shield around him, and ran over to his son. Draco was kicking and clutching his face, while rolling on the ground. Lucius grabbed him and ran out of the battle into the empty corridor they had arrived in. No one was there, and he was thankful. He put his son down on the ground, and told him to move his hands so he could see the damage. Draco just kept sobbing.

"Draco, remove your bloody hands, or I'll make you! I need to see what he did." His voice was rushed, because he knew at any moment they could be discovered and killed, in this vulnerable position.

Draco was still clutching his face, because the pain was unbearable. His face probably looked horrible, he thought. He felt Lucius's hands pry at his, and holding them down so he couldn't recover himself, then remove his mask. Lucius gasped. Draco's eyes were bloody and swollen, and he could tell that at least one of the eyeballs had shattered. Draco sobbed tearlessly as his father observed his face.

"Oh, God, Draco. We're getting you out of here," whispered Lucius in a panicked voice. "It might get worse. I can't tell. Shit!" His eye sockets had started to bleed. He ripped off a piece off his robe and told Draco to hold it to his eyes. "We're getting you the hell out of here! Hold on to my arm. He readied himself, concentrating on the Manor, and with a 'pop' he and Draco were gone.

---

Draco woke up slowly, his head hurting and his eyes throbbing. He sat up in bed, his eyelids still closed from sleeping. As soon as he got to sitting position he got head rush, and he clutched his arms around his head, waiting for it to pass. He knew he was at the Manor. He vaguely remembered having apparated there and his father yelling for assistance and then rushing up the stairs. He opened his eyes.

Nothing. It was still black. I might still be sleeping, he thought hazily. He put his hands to his face, and felt his open eyelids, and eyes that were intact. He prodded his fingers around his face. His skin was scabbed. He widened his eye sockets. He touched his eyes, horrified, then slapped himself trying to wake his eyes up. He cried out, scared.

"Help me! Mother! I can't see!" He heard some commotion from downstairs, someone walking up the stairs, and into his room. He looked up and saw nothing. A soft feminine voice came from the person. "Oh, thank Merlin you're awake," said his mother. She walked up to him and sat on the bed. "You look terrible, honey."

Draco sat up a little bit straighter, straining to see her. "I can't see! Goddamnit! My head hurts, my eyes are stinging, my body's sore! Oh, Lord…" He sobbed. "Mother, I got hit in the eyes! I can't see! Oh God…"

She hugged him gently. Her voice was shaky. "You've seen a healer, Draco. He tried everything he could. Your father pressed him hard. Your father's a wreck, by the way. The healer was busy all night. You almost died a few times. He said you'll probably stay like this. The chances of you healing were slim, and he doubted if ever."

Draco groaned and sat back on his pillow. He felt like a rubber band was around his lungs. His chest was tightening. He put his right hand to his eyes again, and gently rubbed them, contemplating what it meant to be blind in his head. No more Quidditch, no more raids (not a bad thing), no more school, no more walking without an aid, no more being free. He started to cry.

His mother got up from the bed. "I can't stay. I think you need some time by yourself. I'm going to leave you. You don't know how sorry I am. Your father will come in later." She bent down and kissed his cheek, then turned around and left, and Draco heard her shut the door. He flipped over onto his stomach, and put his head in his arms. He thought for a long time. What would everyone say about him? Would he be labeled a cripple? How could he possibly cope without being able to see?

He heard the door open again. Draco stayed where he was. He heard his father address him grimly. Draco could hear that his voice was ragged. He came next to Draco's bed and pulled a chair up. He just sat there for a while, and Draco didn't move.

When Lucius spoke, he was soft, which wasn't like him. "The Dark Lord isn't happy. He was almost ready to kill me on the spot when I told him about you. I didn't really stick around. I guess you aren't really going to be required to go to meetings anymore. I know that will devastate you." His voice held empty humor. "I am not angry with you. I am too tired and sad. I am angrier with our Lord, for having thought you were ready for a raid like that." He sighed.

"We tried to do everything, Draco. The healer might've been a moron, but he really did do everything he could. It's not a physical wound. It's a curse… A very strong curse." Draco turned over and faced him.

"The main thing we need to address is what we are going to do now, and how you are going to adapt to a life of blindness." It sounded shocking when Lucius said it so outright.

Lucius went on for a while, Draco saying very little. He had decided that Draco would keep going to school as normal, with someone to escort him to class and read to him, which Draco groaned at. He would go about life as normal as he could, hoping that his sight might come back, which Lucius made clear there was very little hope of. He wouldn't be able to be on the Quidditch team anymore, which made Draco even more upset. He would not have to worry about what happened when he was home. The house elves would escort him around. They would have to escort him around in public.

Lucius left Draco afterwards, saying that he was truly sorry about what had happened. Draco leaned back, dreading the idea of returning to school in a week.


	2. Coping Mechanisms

Chapter 2 – Coping Mechanisms

Hermione sat apprehensively in Dumbledore's office, swinging her feet slowly and waiting for him to return. She'd been summoned by owl that morning and hoped she wasn't in trouble.

Dumbledore strode briskly through the door, his eyes weary. He was closely followed by Professor Snape. Dumbledore sat down at his desk and rubbed his temples. Snape stood impatiently at the side of Dumbledore's desk. He looked at Hermione with disdain. She waited nervously for one of them to say something.

"I'm sorry Hermione, I have a bit of bad news for you," Dumbledore said resignedly.

---

Hermione stood, shocked, in the middle of the hallway outside of Dumbledore's office. She couldn't believe what had just happened.

_"Draco Malfoy's been in an accident. According to his father he was practicing potions, and something went wrong…" _Dumbledore's face had held obvious skepticism.

_Hmph, a likely cover up. It serves him right_, she thought cruelly. Snape's leering face infuriated her. His slimy voice echoed in her head, telling her that as Head Girl, she would now be given the task of escorting the newly-blinded Draco Malfoy to all of his classes. In addition to writing out his homework. And reading his mail to him. And fulfilling just about any other need that Draco Malfoy could possibly have. In fact, Draco Malfoy would be moving in to her Head Girl dormitory in order for her to properly take care of him.

At the back of her mind, Hermione felt a slight pity for Malfoy. Her annoyance dominated her thoughts, however, and she stormed off to her room to make accommodations for him.

---

Hermione stood bundled up in a large, leather coat outside of the Main Gate. The wind whipped at her face and the sky was growing darker. Draco Malfoy would be arriving soon, accompanied by Professor McGonagall. There was a loud 'pop' a few yards away from where Hermione waited, and McGonagall, Malfoy, and Malfoy's luggage appeared from nowhere. Malfoy clutched on loosely to McGonagall's arm. His head was down and covered by a large black hood, so Hermione couldn't see his face.

"Thank you for waiting, Ms. Granger," McGonagall said in a kinder-than-usual tone. "Come here and lend an arm to Malfoy, and I will attend to his luggage." Hermione noticed his head turn away as she walked towards him and took his arm. She could sense shame emanating from him.

"Don't say anything, Mudblood," she heard him mutter.

She was taken aback. A wave of anger washed over her as they moved into the castle.

Hermione helped Malfoy move, paying careful attention so that he wouldn't trip on the stairs, but Malfoy seemed determined to stay as far away from her as possible. He held on to her forearm lightly, but did not let any other part of himself touch her. His head remained down the entire time.

McGonagall walked a meter in front of them while levitating Malfoy's luggage. She led them to a different part of the castle where Hermione's dormitory was located, that had now been modified to have an extra bedroom for Malfoy. McGonagall said the password and the painting swung open. The common room was circular and gold and scarlet, just like the Gryffindor common room. The two spiral staircases that would have led to the girls' and boys' bedrooms now led to Hermione and Malfoy's, respectively, and a joint bathroom linked the rooms.

McGonagall put down the bags and cleared her throat. "I'll leave you two now. Mr. Malfoy, if you wouldn't mind stopping by after class tomorrow to pick the work you missed. Goodnight." She strode off.

Hermione walked through the door frame, relieved to get away from Malfoy. He followed her slowly, putting his arms out reluctantly for balance. He said nothing.

"Malfoy," she said, "There's been made an extra room for you. I'll levitate your luggage, just hold on to my back and follow me up the –"

"Don't treat me like a goddamn cripple, Granger," he snapped.

"Fine, Malfoy! Just follow behind me then!" She flicked her wand and Malfoy's luggage floated up into the air. She turned around and headed towards the stairs when she heard Malfoy fall over. She turned around and saw he had tripped on a stuffed armchair, and had been knocked onto his side. Hermione felt a rush of satisfaction, but put down the luggage and went to help Malfoy get up.

He quickly stood up, knocking Hermione's hands away, but his hood had fallen down. He tried to swiftly cover himself again, but it was too late.

"Oh my God, Malfoy…" she whispered.

Malfoy's eyes were no longer silver. The irises were almost black, making it impossible to clearly see the pupils. His eyes didn't focus anywhere and looked oddly dark on his pale face. Hermione felt suddenly sorry for him.

"Shut it, Granger," he said tightly. His hood was disheveled, so she could see a stiffness in his expression.

"Malfoy…" she started.

"I said shut it, mudblood. I don't need pity from you. Now take me to my room."

Hermione closed her mouth, angrily. "All right, let's go." She turned and lifted his things, and walked slowly in front of him, making sure he could hear where she stepped as she led him upstairs to his room.

---

Hermione awoke groggily the next morning and rolled over in bed, trying to conserve warmth. The shower was running, which made Hermione happy. She wouldn't have to go through the awkward process of setting Malfoy up in the bathroom.

A half hour later, she walked down the stairs to see Malfoy sitting on the sofa, sporting a pair of ridiculous purple-shaded sunglasses. They were thin and small, but they sufficiently covered his eyes. He raised his head when she walked in, acknowledging her presence. He had a smug grin plastered to his face. He seemed the opposite of the shamed, angry Malfoy from last night.

"Did you sleep well?" Hermione asked politely, trying not to laugh at the sunglasses.

"Why do you care, Granger?" Malfoy asked with a smirk.

Hermione ignored him. "Okay, let's go, Malfoy," she snapped. She grabbed her bag and he stood up, following her. He didn't grab his bag. "Malfoy, aren't you going to bring your stuff to classes?"

"Umm, no, I am not. That's what you are for, Granger," said Malfoy, his smirk widening.

"Malfoy, I'm not your slave," said Hermione in a clipped tone.

"Of course not. It seems that you don't understand what you're actually here for. I suppose I could ask Professor Snape to clarify it with you, if you really wish," he said cheerfully.

"No, Malfoy, no need," said Hermione through gritted teeth. She picked up his bag as well, and marched through the portrait, holding it open for Malfoy to stumble through.

Malfoy didn't even attempt to hold on to her on the way to the Great Hall. He held his head high, walking a few steps behind her. Hermione took turns quickly, and laughed at his poor attempts to walk gracefully down the stairs. As they entered the Great Hall, a loud shriek echoed, and Hermione saw Pansy Parkinson get up from the Slytherin table and run over to Malfoy. Hermione dropped his bag there and left before Pansy got close, heading for the Gryffindor table. She put her bag down angrily next to Harry and Ron. Ron was piling his plate with bacon and toast. Harry was drinking marmalade. They looked up as she sat down.

Ron put down his food and asked tentatively, "How is it going?" He seemed to sense her bad mood.

Hermione put some fruit and toast onto her plate and took sip of tea, trying to calm herself down. "He's absolutely infuriating! I try to be pleasant, and he just calls me names."

"He still seems pretty full of himself," Harry said, his head facing the Slytherin table. Malfoy was surrounded by a group of younger Slytherin girls, and Pansy sat linked arm-in-arm with him. He seemed to be telling a fascinating story, from the way they were reacting.

"I wish I could feel bad for him, but he's such a complete ass," said Hermione.

At that moment, owls entered the Great Hall, dropping off the Daily Prophet in front of Hermione. "Look you two!" she exclaimed, pointing at the headline.

Ministry Raided by Death Eaters Last Week, Unsuccessfully Covered Up, Three Aurors Found Dead

"I'd bet anything that's where Malfoy actually was, last week," Harry said, glaring in Malfoy's direction.

"Looks like he deserves what he got, git," said Ron loudly.

They parted at the end of breakfast, since Hermione would be taking notes in History of Magic for Malfoy, while Harry and Ron went to Transfiguration. She asked them to fill her in on their class work, and caught up with Malfoy, who was waiting for her at the Slytherin table.

History of Magic was painful for Hermione. Not only did she have to take two copies of notes on "Pure-blood Family Lines Dating From the 14th Century", but she had to deal with Malfoy's rude comments about her heritage. She left class as soon as she could just to be away from his awful remarks.

Potions was no better. She was reunited with the Gryffindors, but was stuck working with Malfoy on an Anti-acne Potion. Since Malfoy flat-out refused to do any work, Hermione worked on two potions while he sat haughtily on his stool, staring around the room at nothing. She worked hastily in her anger. Snape took every chance he could to criticize Hermione's less-than perfect potion.

"What is this, Ms. Granger?" Snape said, sneering.

Hermione continued to quickly cut her fluxweed, working determinedly.

He took a peek into Malfoy's cauldron. "Obviously, Malfoy knows what he's doing. Hopefully next time you will actually work with your partner, Ms. Granger. That's a zero for today."

Hermione groaned, and threw the fluxweed onto the ground in annoyance. Across the room, Snape had begun to critique Neville's potion.

"Terrible, as usual," she heard Snape say. She looked over in time to see Neville shaking and sloppily dropping too much fluxweed into his potion. Hermione turned around, began mixing her potion, when she heard a loud explosion.

She was thrown off of her stool and onto the ground. Smoke clouded the room. Everyone began to cough, and she sat up trying to see clearly. Malfoy was crawling on the ground, trying to find his glasses. He had one hand covering his eyes and one hand extended and feeling the ground. Hermione felt the same resurging feeling of pity. She scanned the room, in which the smoke was quickly clearing, and saw his glasses lying about a meter from her. She picked them up and crawled over to Malfoy, tapping him on the shoulder and placing the glasses lightly in his hands. His face looked up at hers, his expression softer, in a gesture of near gratitude, before he quickly shoved his little glasses back onto his eyes and stood up.

Snape's commanding voice was muffled by the commotion. Everyone was to receive a 'zero' that day. People began to clean up their potions before hurriedly scurrying from the room. Malfoy continued to ignore Hermione. She managed to get through the rest of her classes without as much trouble, but by the end of the day she was ready to strangle Malfoy again.

---

Later at night, Hermione sat reading Guide to Advanced Transfiguration on the couch in her dormitory. She sipped tea, trying to unravel and forget about how terrible the day had been. Malfoy was upstairs taking a shower again. He'd been in there for almost twenty minutes.

She was making a detailed annotation on the diagram of Leniwark's Principle when she heard Malfoy's voice calling from the shower.

"_Granger!"_

She pretended to not hear it, and went back to reading.

"_GRANGER!"_

She sighed, and put her book down and headed upstairs lazily.

"What Malfoy?" she asked while knocking on the bathroom door.

"Granger, can – can you come in here, please?" He sounded distraught.

"Are you decent?" She asked, confused.

"Yes, just get in her, damn it," he said in an annoyed fashion.

She opened the door slowly. From behind the shower, the torso of Draco Malfoy stood, blindly facing her direction.

"Granger," he said, "I need a towel."

Hermione stared at him. "Malfoy, are you kidding me?"

"No Granger, I'm actually not. You see, I don't know where it is, and I don't want to slip trying to find it." He smirked. "Also, don't spend too long standing there staring at me. I'm getting cold."

Hermione shook herself. She had spent the last thirty seconds staring at Draco Malfoy's defined torso. She looked away, embarrassed, but reminding herself that he couldn't actually see her.

She gave Malfoy a towel, and exited quickly.

That night she lay in bed, trying to clear her mind. She didn't want to dwell on her annoyance at Malfoy. As she began to fall asleep, she pictured him looking up at her helplessly after she'd returned his glasses, and felt her stomach knot. _Put it out of mind, Hermione_, she thought. She drifted off to the soft sound of the cold October wind wailing against her window.


	3. Shattered Glass

Chapter Three – Shattered Glass

Time passed, and Malfoy's grades began to plummet. Although it seemed that he was trying on some level, his blindness made it nearly impossible for him to succeed in some of his classes. McGonagall decided that Hermione needed to tutor him in Transfiguration and Charms, the two that seemed to be most difficult. Hermione had been tempted to protest on account of Malfoy's horrible behavior, but kept her mouth shut and made up her mind to deal with it.

One afternoon in between classes, Hermione went upstairs to drag Malfoy out of his room to work on the Transfiguration he hadn't been able to accomplish that day. She knocked on his door, and then stood outside waiting for an answer. She waited for a while before knocking again.

"Malfoy?" She inquired. No answer. "McGonagall's asking me to tutor you in Transfiguration. You need to come downstairs now." There was still no answer.

She slowly pushed on his door, wondering if he was asleep. She saw him lying on his back with his arm covering his eyes. He didn't acknowledge her entry at all, but shifted slightly on the bed, letting her know he was awake. Hermione was surprised. Was he sulking?

"You need to stop ignoring me. Come downstairs and we'll get this over with."

"Go away," he grunted.

"This is going to happen eventually, Malfoy," she said.

"Whatever." He didn't move.

She sighed. "Look, I'm sorry if you're in a bad mood, but if you don't improve you're going to begin failing."

There was a pause. "Ugh, fine," he said, getting up from the bed, stumbling, and putting on his little glasses again.

"Thank you," she said.

Hermione walked slowly in front of him on the way downstairs. They sat down in two chairs she had pulled up. She put a table in front of them that held an encaged rat. Malfoy would be turning the rat into a handkerchief. It was a relatively easy task.

"Do you remember what to do? Just think the incantation, and point your wand in the rat's direction." She touched his arm and attempted to point it at the rat, but he jerked it away.

"Don't touch me," he said coolly.

"Erm, it's just right in front of you, then."

He pointed his wand at the rat. The rat's tail made a small popping noise as it turned in to a wispy piece of cloth.

Hermione clapped her hands. "That's great Malfoy! You actually hit the rat! Only his tail though. I think you might almost have it. Just a few more times probably."

Malfoy pointed his wand towards the rat again, and suddenly the rat squeaked as its cage collapsed in on it. The bars had turned to rope. The rat squirmed to get through the small cracks, so Hermione quickly flicked her wand to fix the cage.

Malfoy sat stiffly in his chair. "Didn't work?" he asked.

"No, you almost transfigured the cage, though!" she said, trying to sound enthusiastic. "Just think more strongly of the rat, maybe. Let's try again."

Malfoy continued to be unsuccessful at transfiguring the rat. He came close a few times by changing its fur, or hitting its tail, but during the other times he missed by a lot. He continued to hit the cage, and at one point even ended up changing the table into a large piece of silky cloth.

"Okay, this isn't working," said Hermione, finally. "I don't quite think your problem stems from an inability to transfigure a rat, but from an inability to aim. I think if you just let me direct your arm…" she trailed off.

"Damn it, Granger, always trying to find an excuse to touch me," he said mockingly, nearly snapping out of his moping.

"No, Malfoy. If you don't practice actually hitting the rat, there is no way you can improve," she said. She refused to let him get a rise from her.

Malfoy aimed his wand towards the rat. The rat made a yelp before exploding.

"Oh my!" cried Hermione in surprise. Malfoy stood up from his chair.

"You know what, screw this." He stormed back upstairs to his bedroom, tripping on the third step. Hermione rested with her face in her palm for a few minutes, and then flicked her wand to clean up pieces of rat gut.

---

Another week went by, and Draco Malfoy became outright mean. His sarcasm had gotten to the point where it left Hermione not only angry, but with hurt feelings as well.

One windy November day, she was sitting next to Malfoy and the other Slytherins in the greenhouse. Malfoy was ignoring her for once to talk to Blaise Zabini while they repotted Chinese Chomping cabbages. She was glad that his attention was elsewhere, but caught glimpses of their conversation through the commotion.

"…been really unhappy recently. Father says he's been in a bad mood after the whole ministry thing." Blaise was doing a poor job of keeping his voice down. Hermione continued to dig through the foul smelling dirt, but started listening intently.

"…heard any news, though?" came Malfoy's anxious voice. Hermione craned her head closer.

"Something about an internment camp, there was nothing I heard for sure though," said Blaise.

"For mudbloods? Why an internment …"

"…labor, torture, information, at least from what I've –"

Hermione felt her hair suddenly jerk forward and screamed. She had been leaning so far towards them that the Chomping cabbage had gotten hold of one of her long curls. It was pulling her head towards its mouth. She panicked, reaching around for her wand, and not finding it.

"Help!" she yelled.

Blaise Zabini pulled out his wand and flicked it at her hair, severing it where the cabbages teeth were. Hermione barely had time to sit back up before the insults started flowing from Malfoy.

"Can't believe I'm stuck with this piece of scum," he said loudly to Blaise. "What a stupid, ugly, mudblood. Can't even repot a plant with that hideous mass of hair. That might be the one thing I'm glad I can't see anymore -"

Hermione heard Blaise snicker. She didn't wait to hear any more of what Malfoy said, and stood up and ran out of the greenhouse, back towards the castle. Tears welled up her in eyes as she searched for Harry and Ron.

She ended up back at the Gryffindor Common Room. She said the password and walked through the portrait, relieved to see Harry sitting at one of the overstuffed armchairs. He looked up, an alarmed look on his face at the sight of her.

"Hermione!" he said.

He stood up and walked over to Hermione, giving her a hug. She stood there for a few minutes, crying on his shoulder. The words she tried to choke out were muffled by Harry's robe. He didn't say anything, but his arm awkwardly patted her back.

Finally Hermione stepped away from Harry, wiping her eyes. "I'm sorry," she sniffled.

Harry scratched the back of his head. "Eh, don't worry about it. If you ever need anything, Hermione, you can always find me or Ron. Or Ginny, even."

Hermione gave a small smile. "What are you guys doing, today?"

"We were going to head to Hogsmeade. Do you want to come? I guess we assumed you'd be with Malfoy," said Harry.

"I'd love to come!" she said, cheering up immensely at the thought of spending time with her friends.

She almost forgot about Malfoy for the day, and spent time catching up with Ron and Harry. Ginny caught up with them in the Three Broomsticks about an hour later. They laughed and drank butterbeer, and by the end of the day, Hermione had forgotten about her anger towards him.

She entered her common later that night, exhausted from the day. Malfoy wasn't there, which made her happy. She went straight to her room and fell asleep on her bed.

---

Hermione awoke to the sound of Malfoy's voice from the common room. It must have been two hours since she had lain down. She didn't even want to know what Malfoy was doing, and put her head down, trying to go back to sleep. Ten minutes later, Malfoy cursed loudly, awaking her again.

She slowly got out of bed, putting on a thin blue robe, and walking downstairs to see what Malfoy was doing. She quietly peaked her head around the corner, not letting him notice her presence. Malfoy was standing in his pajamas in the middle of the common room, his glasses on the sofa. He stood surrounded by shards of broken glass, pointing his wand furiously across the room at a teacup that lay on the floor.

"_Wingardium Leviosa!" _he yelled. The teacup feebly teetered over. He cleared his throat. "Wingardium Leviosa,"he said determinedly. The teacup raised itself in the air, but Malfoy lost control and sent it soaring at the wall. It shattered loudly.

"FUCK!" he roared. He threw his wand across the room and kicked the ground furiously. He moved away angrily and blindly hit the sofa, falling flat on his back onto the jagged pieces of glass. He let out a moan that was now filled with pain as well as frustration. Malfoy turned himself over and put his head in his arms. His shoulders began to tremble. Traces of blood showed through his shirt where the glass had cut him.

The knot of pity from last night returned to Hermione's stomach. She stood looking at him, not knowing what to do. Would he be angry if she came down there and helped him? Should she pretend she hadn't seen him? He looked so completely miserable, but his cruel voice from earlier that day rang in her ears. She backed away slowly, trying not to make a noise.

Malfoy's head rose as she climbed the stairs again. Did he know she was there?

"Granger…?" he said weakly. The knot of pity in her stomach grew.

She awkwardly cleared her throat. "Erm, yes. It's me."

Malfoy didn't say anything, and put his head back down. Hermione changed her mind. She walked down the stairs, flicking her wand to gather all shards of glass on the floor and move them to the garbage can. Malfoy must have heard her cleaning the common room. He tried to get up, but his face winced in pain. The dark eyes were wet and clear.

"Let me help you up," Hermione said softly. She held onto an arm and helped heave him up. Malfoy accepted her help without a word. "You're bleeding, Malfoy. You should go to the infirmary."

He shook his head. "No, can't do that."

"Okay. Let's go upstairs and we'll take care of it…" She led him upstairs. Hermione noticed his left hand was bleeding as well.

Hermione opened the door to the bathroom and ushered Malfoy inside. "You should probably pull your shirt down in the back," she said.

"Okay," he said, trying to unbutton his shirt. He winced again and clenched his fists in pain. "I can't," he said after trying a second time.

She got closer to Malfoy. "Okay, let me do it. Don't be rude, though," she said, looking up at him. A half-hearted smirk broke out on Malfoy's face, but was replaced by a look of sadness. Hermione put her hands on his first button, undoing it, and worked her way down his chest. When she finished undoing the last button, she placed her hands on his shoulders and slowly pushed it off of his body, taking care not to hurt him. Malfoy sucked in breath quickly as the shirt unstuck itself from his back.

"I'm sorry. Just turn around. I'll try to make this as painless as possible," she said. He turned around and faced the mirror. His back was covered in red gashes. Hermione took out her wand, pulling the tiny shards of glass out one at a time. She could see his face grimacing in the mirror. At the end she disinfected the area and gently bandaged it.

"Can I see your hand?" she asked. Malfoy turned around to face her, and placed his hand into her palm. She used her wand to remove the glass, and again pushed the bandage onto the wound. Malfoy let out a small cry. She pressed her hand against his, putting pressure on the gash. She looked up at his face.

"I'm done."

Malfoy nodded, taking his hand back. He looked at the floor. His face held a hint of misery.

"I think you should go get some sleep, Malfoy," Hermione said quietly.

Malfoy turned and walked cautiously away from her towards the door to his bedroom. "Don't say anything to anyone, Granger," he said without looking at her.

"I won't."


	4. An Accident

Note: Sorry for not updating sooner! I didn't have a computer for a while. I hope you guys enjoy.

Chapter 4 – An Accident

Hermione sat next to Malfoy in potions the next day while they brewed a stress-management potion. He did not offer to help her as she carefully cut their ingredients, but also made no snide comments. The class was going by quickly.

"How's your hand?" Hermione asked in his direction.

Malfoy snapped out of long gaze at the opposing wall. "It stings." He sat there for a few minutes while she added ingredients to her cauldron. "I'm going to the bathroom to clean my hand," he said finally. He stood up, slowly getting away from his chair.

"Do you need me to show you the way?" Hermione asked.

"No, it's right around the corner," he said.

Hermione was nearly halfway done when she heard Malfoy head back in through the door. His hand trailed along the wall as he wound his way back towards Hermione. As he went to sit down he tripped, knocking the contents of the potion all over Hermione's lap. Malfoy tried to stabilize himself but fell into the mess of potion on the floor.

"Oh, no!" Hermione screamed. She quickly threw off her robe, but the potion was all over her legs.

Snape rushed over to her and pulled out his wand. "Evanesco," he said smoothly. The potion evaporated, leaving Hermione and Malfoy clean.

"Well, hopefully you did no damage to yourself or Mr. Malfoy," said Snape. "That's another zero, Ms. Granger." He smirked.

Hermione scowled and gathered up her toppled cauldron, and packed her bag. She led Malfoy out of the room, slightly irked at him. She walked quickly and he struggled to keep up.

"Want to slow down a bit, Granger?" said Malfoy, whose hands were reached out blindly in front of him.

Hermione took a deep breath, and slowed down on the way to Transfiguration.

In class Malfoy sat staring at the rat, the tiny purple glasses not covering a look of anxiety in his eyes. Hermione waited patiently, having already perfected her handkerchief in front of McGonagall.

"You can do it," she said to Malfoy.

"Shut it, I'm concentrating." Malfoy was breathing quickly. He seemed legitimately nervous.

He raised his wand, flicked it, and again the rat's cage collapsed. Hermione quickly corrected it.

"All right, not quite. Try again," she said.

It was the same drill as back in their common room. Malfoy became quickly upset and started to swear under his breath. By the eleventh try, his face was red with anger. To her surprise she felt herself becoming annoyed.

"Malfoy, could you just concentrate, please?" she snapped.

Malfoy looked her way with what seemed to be confusion. Up until that point Hermione had been calm and reassuring. "Thanks. I'm trying, Granger," he said, sounding irritated.

Hermione was infuriated. Malfoy picked up his wand and flicked it again. The rat turned into a perfect handkerchief, but yelled loudly. He jumped up from his chair, in apparent surprise.

Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas, who were sitting nearby, turned to look at him curiously. Malfoy was sputtering out words.

"Wha- the rat! The rat! It was right there! Did you see it? Granger! The rat, it was there right in front of me!"

"What?" said Hermione. Her stomach sunk. What had just happened?

"Is he gonna be okay?" asked Seamus.

"I don't know… I'll take him to the infirmary. Malfoy, come," she said, grabbing his arm and pulling him out the door.

She led him out of earshot of the door. Malfoy was still raving fanatically.

"The rat, though, Granger! It was right there! I saw it!" he said.

"What happened, Malfoy?" she asked.

"Granger, I saw the rat! It was right there!"

"That's impossible, though!" she yelled. She thought quickly.

"How do you think I was able to transfigure it?" Malfoy said furiously.

Hermione stopped. What if Malfoy was right, for once? What if he had actually seen the rat, and not just imagined it?

"But… but how?" she pondered aloud.

"I don't know! I remember I was really pissed off, and then I just felt really calm and I saw the rat for a split second," said Malfoy.

Hermione remembered how irrationally angry she had felt. "Malfoy, do you believe what just happened? We were just telepathically connected! It must have been the potion!"

"But wasn't it finished? It shouldn't have done that," he said.

"No, it wasn't," she replied. "I hadn't added the half of the ingredients before you knocked it over. Merlin, I've read accounts of this happening! It's extremely rare, but the documented cases that are kept in the library –"

"Granger, stop talking and try to do it again," Malfoy cut her off.

"Okay, just stand still. I don't really know what I did," said Hermione, excitedly. She focused on the portrait of Voudon the Villainous across the hall, and with all her willpower imagined sending the image to Malfoy.

"Is it working?" she asked after a moment.

"Erm, no."

She looked intently at the photo, and focused completely on the thought of pushing the image towards Malfoy.

After a minute she sighed in exasperation. "Why is it not working? What were you doing when you saw the rat?"

"Nothing. I was really angry, and I was waving my wand, I suppose."

"Oh, I know!" exclaimed Hermione. "It has to do with emotion. Whether it works with anger solely, or with just strong emotion in general, we'll have to find out. It's so odd that those ingredients actually did anything…" she said.

"Well one of us has to get really mad, then. That's lovely," said Malfoy sarcastically.

"But it might not just be anger. Here! Try to recapture the moment when you could see the rat. Imagine how happy you were. I'll focus on the picture and we'll see if this works."

Malfoy folded his arms. Hermione focused on the portrait again. Suddenly, she realized she could sense Malfoy's excitement.

Malfoy cried out. "Stop! Don't do anything else! It's working!" Malfoy walked straight forward with his hand out. "I can see the painting!" He walked right towards Hermione, and his outstretched hand landed on Hermione's chest.

"Malfoy, what the hell?" she yelled at him, turning around to face him.

"Merlin!" He stopped moving, closing his eyes. "Stop it, stop it! Turn it off, damn it!" Hermione realized that he must be seeing himself staring back.

"'Mione?" she heard Ron's voice coming from the classroom. McGonagall's voice was barking out the homework. Ron was wondering towards them.

"What's going on?" he sounded confused. Malfoy was cowering next to Hermione with his hands over his eyes.

"Oh… nothing," she lied quickly. "The potion explosion messed with his head a little bit. We're going to the infirmary."

"Do you need a little help?" said Ron, eyeing Malfoy maliciously.

Hermione laughed, wanting to get away from him. "No, don't worry, Ron. Malfoy, that's it. We're going." She took Malfoy's arm and dragged him in the direction of the infirmary, not giving him a chance to insult Ron.

"We're not actually going to the infirmary, Granger," Malfoy whispered.

"Of course not," she said shortly. She held on tightly to his arm and walked quickly towards their dormitory. She could not wait to continue testing this new ability. She pulled Malfoy though the doorway, nearly causing him to trip.

For the next hour, Hermione worked on sending images towards Malfoy. They discovered that Hermione's emotions equally affected their telepathic bond. They sat in the common room, Hermione attempting to send Malfoy images of a flower pot. When excitement at Malfoy's new sight wore off, however, Hermione suggested that they think of memories with strong emotions.

"No," said Malfoy, flatly.

"Why? Don't be stubborn," Hermione argued.

"Because," he said, "I don't really feel very comfortable with that."

"Malfoy, if you want this to actually work, you're going to have to start thinking of memories. Unless you want me to hit you every time you can't seem to come up with strong enough emotions," she offered.

"Ha, ha, no."

Hermione thought. "Why don't you try to think of how you felt last night," she said tentatively.

"No! I don't you want you to know about that," he said. His voice was defensive.

"I was there, Malfoy, so that would be a safe memory for you to use."

"Hmm, I suppose…" He scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

Hermione concentrated on the flower pot. She began to feel a growing sadness. She thought harder, but Malfoy's misery was almost overwhelming. She felt frustration and helplessness, and looked away towards where he was sitting.

"Granger, could you stop looking at me?" he said gloomily. "It's kind of creepy to feel like you're look at yourself."

Hermione got up from her seat and put her arms around Malfoy, hugging him gently. The sadness was overpowering.

"You're making _me_ sad, Granger," he said, trying weakly to make a joke. He hugged her back.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly. The sound of a soft voice telling him that he wouldn't see again ran through Hermione's mind. There was a sinking feeling in her gut. She pulled back a little bit, looking at his face, and lightly kissed him on the lips.

Malfoy sputtered. Hermione immediately pulled away, her face turning red. She didn't know what had come over her.

"Do you mind closing your eyes?" he asked. She opened her mouth in surprise, but he pulled her towards him, kissing her roughly. Hermione felt a mixture of intense sadness and lust emanating from him. He pulled her down on to his lap. Hermione was shocked at first, but quickly melted into his arms, trying to keep her eyes shut. Malfoy's hands entangled themselves in Hermione's mass of hair. She kissed him back passionately.

Malfoy picked her up off his lap and put her face up on the floor. She opened her eyes accidentally.

"Gahh," said Malfoy. His hand fumbled around on the table next to them for the handkerchief Hermione had transfigured the previous night. "Sit up," he said.

Hermione didn't argue. He moved behind her, tying it over her eyes. "Can you see?" he asked softly.

"No," she whispered. Malfoy kissed her neck, and turned her around again. Hermione didn't know what Malfoy was doing, or why she was going along with it, but she didn't actually care. He unbuttoned her shirt quickly, leaving Hermione's bare skin open to the cold air. She shivered. His mouth worked its way from her neck down to her chest. He pulled off her robe and shirt, and then reached behind her back to unbutton her bra. Hermione was surprised at his deftness at blindly undressing her.

He slid off her bra, taking one of her breasts in his hand, and lightly brushing his fingers against the nipple. Hermione sucked in air. Malfoy put his mouth on her nipple and sucked. Hermione could feel the lust radiating from him. She pulled his head towards hers and kissed his mouth forcefully. She pulled off his robe and his shirt. Her hands ran nervously down his chest and abdomen, and she broke contact with his lips to kiss his stomach. Hermione frantically undid the belt, but he stopped her from going any farther.

"Not yet," he said. Malfoy picked her up and placed her on the couch with relative grace. He ripped off her school skirt and shoes, and then slid a finger into her white cotton panties. He kissed her as he plunged in to her, and Hermione moaned, holding on to him. Malfoy pulled off the underwear and sucked on the skin of her inner thigh, before placing his mouth on her. Hermione writhed under him as he used his fingers and his tongue, and a while later she cried out as she came.

Malfoy stood up, and hastily removed his shoes and pants. He moved on top of her and kissed Hermione passionately. She didn't mind that she could taste herself on his lips. "Is this okay?" he asked.

"Yes," she said. She was scared.

"Are you sure?" he asked skeptically. She forgot that he could tell.

"I'm all right, Malfoy," she said, reassuring him.

She felt him push himself into her, and she yelled in pain. "I'm sorry. I'll move slowly," said Malfoy. He pulled out and gradually pushed himself back in. The pain lessened and Hermione held on to him. He continued to thrust, and Hermione whimpered in pleasure. He crushed her mouth in a kiss and pushed himself in deeper, causing Hermione to moan. After a while, Malfoy made a noise, and came, before collapsing on top of Hermione.

They lay on the couch for a while afterwards, breathing heavily. Hermione didn't remove the blindfold. When they had both regained their breath, she spoke.

"I think we should keep this a secret, Malfoy. The potion, the images, this…" she trailed off.

"I agree," he said.

Hermione knew she should be getting off the couch in alarm, throwing the blindfold off, and running away from Malfoy. However, somehow she felt safe there. She could feel a warm emotion coming from Malfoy. He pulled his arms tightly around her, and she fell asleep to the sound of his heartbeat.


End file.
